Improvement in preparing vegetable fiber for paper



NrTiD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JIM B. FULLER, OF GLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO HIM- SELF AND JAMES P. UPHAM, OF `SAME `PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARIRGVEGETABLE EIBER FOR PAPER, &C.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,659, dated November 17, 1863.

To all whom it Magnan/cern.-

Be it known that l, JIM B. FULLER, of Claremont, in the county of Sullivan and State of N ew Hampshire, have 'invented and made a certa-in new and useful Improvement in the Preparation of Vegetable Fiber 'for Paper, 85e.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being-had to the annexed drawings, making part ot' this specification, wherein- Figure l is a vertical section of my apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same.

' Similar letters denote the same parts in both figures.

Paper-stock has heretofore been manufactured by boiling straw and other vegetable matter, and subjecting it to a grinding or beating operation, and these have been per-vd formed under considerable pressure, as well as in the atmosphere.

The-nature of my said invention consists in curing the vegetable material in a vessel by means of steam admitted in jets around said vessel, so as to heat the mass thoroughly and uniformly, and at the same time produce, by the jets of steam, a sufficient motion or agitation to mix and commingle vegetable matter thoroughly. This operation is performed under the necessary heat and pressure, andthe uncured vegetable material is supplied'near the top of such vessel. I allow the cured material to pass away through a pipe of the required size or through a regulated opening directly to the grinder. The pressure is now relieved, but the heat of the vegetable fiber is maintained and the grinding performed under little or no pressure, in order to separate the bers from the gum my, silicious, and other matters commingled with the said ber, and from the grinderthe material is conveyed away through a spiral channel and cooled by the uncured material in a similar spiral channelin which it travels in the opposite direction and on both sides of the heated material, so as to abstract the heat from the same.

1n the drawings, a is a vessel of suitable size with a head, b, and funnel-shaped bottom d.

v e is a pipe through which the uncured vegetable matter, mixed with sufficient water, isl introduced, as hereinafter specified.

e is an annular space formed in the anges jets of steam pass into the vegetable material contained in the vessel a.

k is an annular space with jets at l and steam Vpipe at i', by which steam is supplied` to the material in the funnel-shaped bottom d, and thence `passes up through the vegetable material in a. Thejets of steam, in passing up through the vegetable material, produce asuflicient agitation to mix and cornmingle the mass at the same time that the curing is eected by the steam comingi'n concont-act with such vegetable material, which vsoftens the gummy and silieious substances, so

that the fibers may easily be separated, as hereinafter set forth. The steam may be admitted at one or more ranges of jets.

his a pipe connecting the curing-vessel a with the grindercase lm, in which is the grinder a on the shaft r. The surfaces of n and m are corrugated with ribs,l as seen in Fig. 3, land both are conical, so that the distance remaining between these corrugated surfaces may be regulated, as may be required, for kgrinding the material passing between them, this regulation being effected by the nutw'heel r and screw-step r2 to the shaft r.

l'lhe grinder a is made hollow, wit-h a head, 2, at the smaller end, and the head a at the larger end, in lwhich latter head is a hole, l. The shaft r is hollow, and connected at the upper end with a steam-pipe, s, by any suitable coupling,andan opening in the side of the 'shaft-allows steam to pass through the hollo'w'shaft into the interior of n, to keep that in a heated state, and the water'of condensation passes away at the hole 1 and co'mmingles with the paper-stock. The shaft r rotates in a stuffing-box, 7, at the lower end of u, and in a journal-box, '8, above ,and around this box 8 is a screen or sieve, o, and beneath it a brush, p, made on arms extending from a ring around fr, and a spring, 3, keeps the brush p up toward this grating or sieve o, and atove the grinder m is a funnel or pipe, q, that rises to a sufficient height to cause thecolumn of water therein contained to act with suflicient force to drive the paper-stock through the grinder with the speed necessary for its treatment in said mill. j The operation of this apparatus thus far described is as follows: The vegetable mattersuch as straw, wood, hemp, ax, &c.-in a sufciently comminuted state, is introduced by a pump or otherwise, with water, into the vessel a through the pipe c, in which vessel the fresh or uncured material is forced into the upper part ofthe curing-vessel a. The grinding operation is next performed on the hot material, and the temperature required is maintained by the steam introduced into nl. The watery matter 'accompanying the ber (consisting of the hot water impregnated with coloring-matter and other soluble impuritiesl from the vegetable materials) rises through the sieve o in the pipe q, and may overflow and be led away, if desired, and said sieve o retains the fibrous materials, and said sieve is kept clean by the brush p, revolving with the grinder. The column of water in g is to be sutiicient to maintain a slight pressure on the grinder. i

From the grinder my cured vegetable ber is taken away 'and vmay be stillfurther washed, to separate any coloring-matter or to convey away any particles that may not be brous, such as the silicious and gummy matters that have been ground or rubbed olf the ber and are contained in the water. The vegetable material passes out at an opening, 9, into the double volute transfuser t, formed with a top, u, and bottom fv, between which are volute plates leaving passages 4 and 5. The heated vegetable ber and liquid enter the lpassage 5 by the opening 9, and travel in the direction of the arrows and escape at the pipe a', while the uncured vegetable matter and water are forced in by a pump or otherwise at the pipe w, and travel through the passage 4, in the opposite direction to the point at which the pipe c is attached. Thus the heated material is cooled and its heat imparted or vtransfused to the uncured material, so that that enters the curing-vessel at a high temperature, thus saving as much heat as possible by this apparatus, which is very compact and efcient.

This improvement in separating vegetable ber is adapted to preparing ber for paper; but it will be evident that such prepared vegetable ber may be employed in any other manufacture.

I do not claim forcing the material through the grinder by the action of the pump, as no such operationA is performed in my apparatus. The material from the curing-vessel is discharged into the grinder, and the grinder, being open, is easily accessible, and any surplus water may ow away, and the grinding operation being performed immediately on the delivery from the curing-vessel, there is no opportunity for the material to cool and the .silicious substances to again harden; and I do not claim saving the heat of the material by passing the samein opposite directions to the fresh material, as that has before been known. What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-ent, is v i 1. Curing vegetable ber in a vessel by means of jets of steam introduced into such vessel, substantially as and for the purposes specied.

2. An open grinder, receiving the iibrous materialdirectly from the curing vessel, as specified, so that the grinding operation is independent of the curing operation, but the vegeta-ble beris ground while hot. as set forth. 3. Separating the ber from theoveriiow water by means of the sieve o and brush p, as set forth.

4. Heating the interior of the grinder n by lthe introduction of steam, for the purposes specied.

5. `A column of water rising sufficiently above the grinder to produce the hydrostatic pressure necessary for causing the fibrous materials to pass through the grinder, as speci- 1 6. The double volute or spiral channels, for

cooling the cured vegetable ber and imparting the heat thereof' to the uncured vegetable material traveling inthe intervening volute channels in the opposite direction, as specified. 'In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 18th day ot' August, 1863.

JIM B. FULLER. Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, THos. GEO. HAROLD. 

